Audio: Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service announce zero tolerance policy on hoax callers

HOAX callers kill. That is the message Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service is sending out as part of a new zero tolerance policy on prank callers. It records all 999 calls and will work more vigorously with the police to prosecute hoax callers who cou

HOAX callers kill.

That is the message Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service is sending out as part of a new zero tolerance policy on prank callers.

It records all 999 calls and will work more vigorously with the police to prosecute hoax callers who could face up to six months in prison or a �5,000 fine.

Hoax callers aged 10 and above will now face police action and prosecution. In the past the age limit was 16.

The action comes as a response to more than 250 hoax calls that Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service has received this year.

Teri Seaber, group manager for Fire Control, the operators who receive 999 calls, said: "We want to tell hoax callers to watch out, because we are now taking a zero tolerance policy against this form of anti-social behaviour.

"The reality is that hoax calls can kills. If you dial 999 and make up an emergency you are not only, you are not only wasting the time of the firefighters, you are stopping them from attending real emergencies where people's lives are at risk.

"How would you feel if your mum, dad, friends or children died because you made a hoax call?"

The fire service will work with mobile phone providers to trace and disconnect mobile phones which are used to make hoax calls.